Field weeder



G. R. BEAN FI ELD WEEDER June 5, 1934.

Filed June 25. 1935 Patented June 5, 1934 PATENT GF'FICE FIELD WEEDER George R. Bean, Dakota City, Nebr., assignor of one-third to Mary Ellen Harvey, Dakota City,

Nebr.

Application June 26, 1933, Serial No. 677,579

1 Claim.

My invention relates to a weeder of the type generally used for Weeding between rows of corn or other grain.

An object of my invention is to provide a weeder which will efiiciently out large or small weeds.

A further object of my invention is to provide a weeder presenting a maximum amount of blade edge so that a wide swath can be cut.

A further object of my invention is to provide a weeder so that adjustments can be made horizontally or vertically to take care of various conditions.

A further object of my invention is to provide a weeder of the type which includes the proper shape to the cutting blades to insure a satisfactory cutting operation.

A further object of my invention is to provide the aforesaid cutting means so that it can be adjustable to the disks and other associated parts used with the machine.

A further object of my invention is to provide such a device which can be made at a very reasonable cost and has very few parts to get out of order.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are at tained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the weeder showing generally the attached blades and other parts,

Figure 2 is a sectional view of Figure 1 taken along the lines 2-2,

Figure 3 is a further sectional view similar to Figure 2 showing the process of cutting weeds,

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail view showing the adjusting mechanism,

Figure 5 is a front view showing the blades straddling a row of corn and cutting the weeds,

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail view of part of the adjusting device,

Figure 7 is an enlarged detail view of Figure 6 taken along the lines 77, and

Figure 8 is an enlarged detail view showing the notched arrangement of the adjusting plate.

I have used the reference character 10 to designate generally the cross beam of the weeder with the seat 11.

The various tongues, yokes and the like have not been shown since they are not necessary in the description of the device since these features are well known.

The characters 12 designate the shovels for cutting down the small ridges and 13 are the usual disks in the usual cultivators.

The weeder as shown in Figure 1 will straddle three rows of corn. For instance the wheels 14 will pass over the outer rows and the central row will be located generally under the seat 11.

It will be understood of course that the device can be extended to cover as many rows as desired.

The shovels 12 are attached to the arms 15 which are suitably secured to the frame at 16, and the disks 13 are attached to the arms 17 which are attached at 18 where they can be swung in horizontal adjustment as in the usual type of cultivator.

My invention consists chiefly in placing the curved blades 19 in satisfactory relation to the disks 13 so that the most efiicient cutting operation is performed as well as providing the blades with the proper curves as at 20 to more effciently cut the weeds, due to a slicing action.

A further important feature of my invention consists in providing adjusting features for this blade. For instance in cutting a wider row, the blades can be swung outwardly or inwardly in a horizontal plane by means of the pivoting a1" rangements at 21 and 22. These pivots include the interengaging locking plates 23 which are attached to the blades and the arms 24 and 25.

These plates include a series of V-shaped notches arranged around the periphery of the surface of the plates so that after the desired adjustment is made, the nuts 26 are tightened on the bolts 2'7 and the desired horizontal adjustment of the blades is effected and a rigid structure is maintained.

The reason for providing the upper inter-locking plates 21 is so that the disks 13 can be swung in a horizontal plane, and the blade members can then be adjusted to be in any desired position since otherwise if this were a solid attachment, if the disks were swung in a horizontal plane, the blade would likewise be shifted.

A horizontal pivoting of one of the blades is shown by the dotted lines at 28.

Of course it will be understood that all of the blades will be pivoted uniformly, but this figure is shown merely to illustrate the changed position. To illustrate the efficiency of this arrangement sometimes extremely heavy weeds can be cut more eliiciently by altering the position of this blade so that a continuous slicing action can be directed against the stalks of the weeds.

It will be noted that the blades 19 are arranged with uniformity respecting the center line of the rows of corn.

To provide a vertical adjustment of the blades 19, I provide the slot 29 which is included in the arm 25. The arm 24 includes the raised boss 30 which is received within the slot 29.

The stud 31 and the nut 32 provide means for locking the arms together after the desired vertical adjustment is made.

The raised boss 30 is made of sufiicient length to provide twisting of the arms.

(See Figure 4.) The dotted lines at 33 i1lustrate the position of the blade when raised and 34 the position of the blade when lowered.

It is frequently desirable to cut the weeds close to the ground especially in those cases where the disks 13 will not grind through the weeds. In those cases where this effect can be accomplished the blade can be positioned at a higher level For instance I have found that in encountering various types of weeds that the different vertical adjustments can be made to meet any desired condition, and a further result can be achieved by regulating the height of the blades in case of big weeds so that the disks will not be jerked or jarred in the path.

The inner ends of the blades 19 can be positioned close to the disks or outwardly as desired by virtue of the horizontal adjusting arrangement.

I have found that this arrangement efficiently removes artichokes, tan-weeds, sunflowers and the like in a very efficient manner and by using the adjusting features, the various adverse conditions can be overcome.

The blades perform their cutting function in removing the weeds and the remainder is ground into by the disks and partially by the rear shovels l2 and at the same time the soil is thrown up in the usual manner around the rows of corn.

It will be understood that the device is also applicable to fields containing a variety of grain and the like.

Various other parts of the apparatus shown need not be specified since they are commonly known.

It will be seen that I have provided a weeder for fields which will efficiently out either large or small weeds.

It will also be seen that I have provided a weeder which includes features for swinging cutting blades in a horizontal plane so that either a more efficient cutting operation can be performed or the width of the cutting arrangement can be increased or decreased as desired.

It will also be seen that I have provided a weeder which provides adjusting means so that vertical adjustments can be made.

It will also be seen that I have provided means for adjusting the cutting blades with respect to the associated members of the weeder so that the most eflicient weeding operation can be performed.

It will be seen further that I have provided such a device that can be very readily constructed at a reasonable cost and which has very few parts to get out of order.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my invention without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within its scope.

I claim as my invention:

In combination with a cultivator, pairs of blades arranged to straddle rows of grain, said blades including horizontal and vertical adjusting means, cultivator discs positioned behind the cutting path of the blades, said horizontal adjusting means including inter-locking plates attached to the cultivator frame and the blades, and said vertical adjusting means including an upper and lower arm, said arms being slidably engaged, and means for locking the arms, said lower arm having a lengthened slot and said upper arm including a lengthened boss received within the slot, to prevent distortion of the blade surfaces when cutting weeds.

GEORGE R. BEAN. 

